Higher Education in Saudi Arabia: Conclusions

For more than a decade, the Saudi government has enacted a series of major policy and funding initiatives designed to position its universities - individually and collectively - on the world academic stage. Many opportunities have been grasped, and just as many barriers have been encountered. Much still needs to be done. In this final chapter, the editors identify five overriding issues that emerged from an holistic analysis they undertook of the information, findings, trends and recommendations provided in the previous 16 chapters: the tension between academic vision and cultural norms; the lack of an appropriate governance model for Saudi universities; developing and sustaining international credibility; maximising opportunities and achievements for women in higher education; and the tension between traditional Saudi approaches to teaching, learning and student assessment and the needs of a global knowledge economy. The chapter concludes by arguing the case for two key priorities capable of leveraging significant and sustainable improvement in the Saudi higher education system in its quest for 'world-class' standards.